LAFAYETTE, Colo. (KDVR) – Friends and community members are rallying around a Commerce City couple recovering from serious injuries after their car was hit head-on last week.
Jesika and Shawn Ortiz spent the past week in the hospital following the accident, which happened at the intersection of East 120th Avenue and Sable Boulevard on September 30. The couple was driving home from their daughter’s high school softball game when their car was struck by a GMC Sierra.
According to the Colorado State Patrol, the driver of the GMC Sierra rear-ended another vehicle before crashing into Ortiz’s car. The driver of the Sierra died at the scene, and a child in the car suffered minor injuries.
On the night of the accident, Jesika Ortiz underwent emergency surgery to capture the small intestine and fractured vertebrae. She is expected to be released from the hospital in the coming days, but she says it will likely be months before she is back on her feet and ready to work.
“They ended up removing, I think they said, 100 centimeters of my small intestine,” Jessica said. “I was on vent for a good part of the night and part of the next morning. I couldn’t eat or drink for five days.”
In an adjoining room at Good Samaritan Hospital, her husband, Sean, is recovering from a broken pelvis and torn chest cartilage. He is expected to be transferred to a rehabilitation facility this week to continue his recovery.
“I just remember holding my wife and trying to breathe, while I think they were cutting me out of the car,” Sean said.
Despite their long road to recovery, the couple says the outpouring of support from friends and neighbors has kept their spirits up.
“Just to see how many friends you have there and how much they care about your family, especially the well-being of your kids, knowing that we won’t be able to be there for them face to face for the next few weeks,” Sean said.
The Ortiz family is known in their community for hosting events through their local church and staying with neighbors. In return, this community steps up, providing nightly meals for their two children and He raised nearly $4,000 in ongoing fundraising To help cover expenses while the couple cannot work.
“Seeing him come like that was really hurtful,” Jica said. “It’s amazing that they care about our kids as much as we do.”
It’s not just financial support, the couple says their friends have been attending their children’s events like concerts and softball games so Ortiz’s can watch video from his family in the hospital.
From her hospital bed, Jesika is calling on community leaders to make the intersection of Sable Boulevard and E. 120th Avenue safer for drivers.
“It’s a dangerous intersection,” Jessica said. “There’s already one death…one too many when it comes to that.”
You can donate to Family gofundme here.